Paulette's Story - Walking With a Visual Impairment

[Story collected in a personal interview.]

"We ride buses and walk to wherever we’re going. In the winter, ice is the real problem – that, and the mountains of snow piled up by snow plows at the intersections. It’s flat-out dangerous! Good sidewalk conditions, including curb cuts not filled with snow or rushing water, are critical to those of us who need to walk or use wheelchairs.

"It’s fun to walk in Boulder on the paths along the ditches. I’ve walked many of the paths with friends, but the Boulder Creek path is just too busy. And the standard-width sidewalks are difficult to navigate with a guide dog, especially when there are bicyclists and other pedestrians around.

"Because I’m partially sighted, it’s not as much of an issue for me, but design choices along sidewalks can affect accessibility. I was trying to walk from the bus station along Canyon to Broadway with a totally blind friend who also had a guide dog. They have put so many cute little planters and things along there that you can’t follow a straight line – you have to jig and jog erratically around barriers. It’s nice to have places to sit down, and walls to sit on, and planters, but it’s also important to consider that a straight-line path is a real asset for anyone with mobility issues who doesn’t want to take the extra steps – never mind just the blindness issue. You don’t want to make anyone for whom three extra steps is agony walk around things."